Black Friday

Consumer confidence might be at a 20-year low, but you wouldn't know it from the lines outside Best Buy and Target yesterday morning.

Consumer confidence might be at a 20-year low, but you wouldn't know it from the lines outside Best Buy and Target yesterday morning.

Thousands of people lined up in the pre-dawn hours for a shot at a well-priced digital camera, flat-screen TV or Guitar Hero video game at central Ohio stores. Others fought the crowds to scoop up more-basic items such as pajamas or vacuum cleaners.

Why?

"For the fun of it," Linda Spearman said in the Polaris Target store shortly after the 6 a.m. opening, with a cart already loaded with items such as a Hot Wheels toy car set and remote-control helicopters for her kids. A resident of Fredericktown, Spearman said she teaches in the Olentangy school district and often comes to Columbus to shop.

Others might have a different concept of fun. A few feet away from Spearman, a crush of people struggled to navigate the aisle leading to the toy, electronics and sporting goods sections. One woman was calling for backup on her cell phone, telling her friend on the other end that she needed someone to walk in front of her cart to help part the sea of shoppers.

"I seriously have people freakin' running me over," lamented another young woman, to the person on the other end of her cell-phone line.

By 7 a.m., many shoppers were on their third or fourth store, as some stores opened as early as 4 a.m. The trick for these experienced commandos: Get in early, get out, move on.

Store owners and mall representatives hoped that the early sentiment would last all day on "Black Friday," which historically has been the day a surge of shoppers helps stores move into profitability for the year.

For the most part, shopper traffic seemed to be holding on well after the morning, said many in the retail trade.

Mall parking lots around central Ohio were jammed most of the day as shoppers worked off their Thanksgiving meals. The chilly but sunny weather surely helped.

Easton's nearly 3,000 parking-garage spaces were full by 11:30 a.m., said spokeswoman Lisa Hinson. Likewise, spaces were hard to come by at the Mall at Tuttle Crossing. By late morning, they were nearly full, spokeswoman Dee Uttermohlen said.

Polaris Fashion Place spokeswoman Angela Krumpelman said that mall's parking lots were 90 percent full at 11 a.m., hours after the early discounts were over. She said mall retailers such as Pac Sun and American Eagle, which typically do not provide steep discounts, were doing so yesterday.

Nationally, preliminary reports from several major retailers including Macy's and Toys "R" Us said that crowds were at least as large as last year's, but many shoppers sounded notes of caution and concern.

Retailers extended their hours, some opening at midnight, and offered deals that were deeper and wider than those found during the rest of November.

Some retailers wanted the sale prices to last throughout the day. Macy's, for example, had employees at its central Ohio stores hand out circulars offering time-limited discounts on purchases.

"I don't remember them doing that last year," Krumpelman said. "Big box (stores) usually discounted high-ticket items or a game system on Black Friday. We're seeing more fashion retailers taking deliberate steps to get their share of those dollars today."

Still, the best deals were gone in minutes at the big-box stores. Best Buy, for example, handed out vouchers giving the right to purchase its most sought-after items to people already lined up as early as 3 a.m., two hours before doors opened.

One man waiting to enter Target, who declined to give his name, said he saw a fight erupt at the Walmart on the Far North Side between customers vying to buy Leapster game systems. He said the handheld systems were going for $30, up to 60 percent less than their usual retail price.

At Target, Debbie Avner and several relatives, about halfway through a 500-person line, had it down to a science.

"We've been organizing our Black Friday shopping with three other families every year for about 10 years," said Avner, who was visiting family from Cleveland. "We divide it up and decide what we want, go home and spend the rest of the day writing checks to each other. We've already been to Meijer, Kohl's and Walmart," she said.

Avner's cousin, Abby David of Lewis Center, nodded. "I have triplets, so I'm looking for things like a digital camera," she said. "Those things will be gone within 15 minutes."

Indeed, by 6:20 a.m., the shelves were bare of items such as Guitar Hero World Tour for Wii, which was featured in the Target ad at 40 percent off its usual $100 price, as well as less-expensive items such as popular animated Disney DVDs at $11.88 each.

Manager Patrick Duffner said his store typically does 30 percent of the day's business in the first two hours. "After that, it's a pretty steady flow," he said.

Other retailers reported steady traffic.

"We've had a really good crowd all day," said Keith Lehman as he and co-workers of the Strawberry Fields smoothies and snack company prepared kettle corn outside an entry to Easton Town Center. "It reminds us of a busy, warm Saturday."

Brett Smith, a manager at Cardboard Heroes in the Mall at Tuttle Crossing, said a relatively successful Ohio State football season meant strong sales for the sports-clothing and memorabilia company. Like other stores at the mall, Cardboard Heroes was open at 5 a.m., offering discounts.

"I thought it would really start strong then slowly die off, but it's been busy all day," he said.

Some shoppers said they were mostly buying practical things and a few select gifts, while reining back spending on multiple gifts.

"We've cut back a little, based on the economy," said Bob Benger, visiting from Plymouth, Mich., as he stood in line with toys and a DVD player at Target.

"We have nine grandchildren, and we've all agreed to spend a little less this year," added his wife, Linda Benger.